Chapter 1288: Hitman codename

As Gu Qing Shan raised the Chao Yin sword, all the illusions disappeared.

Fog Song’s real body appeared on his left with the dagger in her hand plunging towards his chest.

Clang clang!

Two metallic noises resounded.

Gu Qing Shan took a step back.

Fog Song stood still.

Gu Qing Shan continued to distance himself from her.

Fog Song on the other hand continued to stand still.

While everyone was wondering what was going on, Gu Qing Shan turned his hand and took out a bow.

——-to prevent himself from drawing too much attention, Gu Qing Shan didn’t use the Dreamscape Soul Artifact [Bow of Fallen Souls] that Lady Fusi gave him and instead used a cultivation world’s standard longbow.

He slowly knocked an arrow and released it.

Sha!

The arrow flew towards Fog Song but was easily chopped into pieces by the nimble daggers in her hand.

“Tsk, you think that you can actually win just by firing projectiles from a——-”

Halfway through her sentence, Fog Song stopped.

A sword had reached out from behind her back, slightly propped against her neck.

At some unknown point, Gu Qing Shan was already standing behind her.

He raised his sword without saying a word.

“It’s my loss”

Fog Son sighed and casually admitted.

Gu Qing Shan then smiled: “You merely didn’t understand my ability and were deceived by it, no need to take it to heart”

“Then how about we go at it again?” Fog Song provoked him.

“What’s the use, we’re allies now—— I don’t really like to fight with my allies” Gu Qing Shan said and undid the Azure Dragon Origin Hex – Binding.

“So you were a sly and cowardly evil creature then?” Fog Song continued to provoke him.

Being held stationary and unable to move in front of so many people caused her to feel furious.

Gu Qing Shan just laughed it off without replying.

It was only a few words, there was no need to compete over everything with everyone, he wouldn’t lose anything from letting them win verbally, especially since the other party was a female.

By this point, he had always kept the words of his Shifu in mind, to never offend a beautiful woman.

——-even if he did, he couldn’t offend them too thoroughly.

Seeing him like this, Fog Song couldn’t really say anything else.

Her figure flashed and vanished, disappearing somewhere.

The referee then looked to the bigshots on the stands.

Quite obviously, the final decision still rested with these individuals.

Gu Qing Shan also turned his gaze towards the group.

——on the stand, many of these people only appeared humanoid without actually being humans.

For example, the bald man sitting on the second row from the top had large sharp serrated spikes growing out from his shoulders.

After all, some entities might be larger than an entire world, so if they showed off their true form, it would certainly cause a lot of issues.

Taking human form was still the most convenient for communication.

The bigshots kept up their poker faces while using telepathy to converse.

After a while, one of them spoke up: “The results are clear, you may announce it”

The referee then loudly declared: “I announce that the challenger Ye Fei Li has successfully been promoted to a ‘Sealing Hitman'”

“Thank you” Gu Qing Shan said as he stood on the ring.

「 Ye Fei Li, I’ve seen the time when you joined the Guild, apparently, your codename was something you arbitrarily decided. Do you want to consider changing it? 」one of the bigshots asked.

Gu Qing Shan turned to Qin.

This gesture drew the attention of many.

Qin thought for a bit and suggested: “Although it isn’t a title, it’s still necessary for other people to remember you. After all, you’re now a ‘Sealing Hitman'”

She suddenly giggled, then continued: “Perhaps, later on your codename would become a Title that will spread to the entire void—— there is a precedent for this, so I suggest you take ample consideration with regards to your codename”

Gu Qing Shan pondered for a bit.

Every title represents the reinforcement of reality’s Laws, a great source of support for living beings.

This certainly needs to be dealt with carefully.

And also…

If I continue to use Ye Fei Li’s name, that would probably cause him trouble as well.

Ye Fei Li did mention something like that once.

When he had just entered the Strife Zones, the grand escort of the Bramble Bird Kingdom shocked him to no end and persisted for a long while after that.

Right, I shouldn’t use his name again.

However!

However!

—-I have a terrible naming sense!!!

It took everything for me to come up with ‘Don’t Know Yet’, and since I’m now a fiend, should I just call myself ‘Fiend Don’t Know Yet’?

That sounds a bit strange…

Then, a light bulb lit up in Gu Qing Shan’s mind.

There’s another solution.

That’s right!

I don’t need to use Ye Fei Li’s name.

Since I’m a Fear Fiend, an evil creature——

The bigshots watched as the Fear Fiend stood in the middle of the ring and thought for a long while before speaking up: “I’ve thought about it, I truly do need a new codename”

“What shall it be?” Qin asked.

Gu Qing Shan pointed at himself with his thumb and replied: “Sha Qiang”

Sha Qiang is the name of that Archfiend from Purgatory, it wasn’t actually a real name, but an alias instead.

Since Sha Qiang was able to use this alias, it’s clear that this alias was one recognized by the evil creatures.

Then I can also use it!

That’s right, that’s exactly it!

Gu Qing Shan triumphantly looked at everyone.

——-silence.

Silence filled the entire sparring area.

The bigshots on the stand looked at him without knowing what to say.

For countless years, the Hitman Guild members had always walked the infinite worlds with an image of seriousness, dark, cruel, and invisible.

They all had codenames like [Hand of Shadows], [Guillotine of Death], [Bloody Demon], and other such stylish codenames or aliases.

Not only were such titles easier for their clients to trust, through which those clients would be more willing to entrust their commissions and simply wait for the hitmen to finish the job.

And then you come up with ‘Sha Qiang’—–

What are our clients supposed to think?

This style of alias isn’t anywhere near our usual style.

Not to mention…

This ‘Sha Qiang’ alias carries so strongly of an impact that it would completely ruin the professional image that the Hitman Guild has built over the years.

The sound of coughing came.

“Archfiend, I suggest that you choose another name”

Gu Qing Shan looked back, only to see it was a grey-haired old man with neatly-combed hair and a cigar in his mouth.

One of his eyes was covered by a black eyepatch, the remaining one was as sharp as a hawk. He sat at the very middle of the stand, wielding a short cane in his hand while a black bird was perched on his shoulder.

The old man seemed to be a VIP even among the bigshots, as everyone else immediately stopped talking and slightly lowered their heads in respect when he started speaking.

“Is that one no good?” Gu Qing Shan’s shoulders became slumped.

The old man replied: “On the battlefield, causing others to laugh isn’t necessarily a good tactic, because you’ll notice that your allies would also be laughing”

Gu Qing Shan replied: “I’m simply terrible at naming and aliases, then, how about you help me pick one out?”

Everyone was shocked at his words and turned to the old man with the neatly-combed hair.

No one dared to speak.

Qin clenched her hands tight and nervously swallowed her saliva.

The old man chuckled, then muttered to himself: “It’s very rare for me to grant someone a codename myself, very well——–”

“Fear Fiends are a species of evil creatures who use the fear of living beings as sustenance. As a member of this species, you’re surely a first-rate killer”

He stared closely at Gu Qing Shan and continued: “When you acted just now, you carefully retracted all of your killing intent, almost like a cautious gigantic beast who was afraid of harming its prey——- in truth, your fully exerted strength would not be at the level of just a ‘Sealing Hitman’ alone”

“When you brandished your sword, you hesitated twice, each time restraining your skills and strength by several degrees”

“But as your sword moved, boundless miasma would naturally follow without fail”

“Miasma signals the manifestation of the Law of Death, a normal person wouldn’t be able to see it, only an entity of my level would be able to”

“You’ve killed so many living beings that the Laws of Death now habitually follow you, constantly preparing to accept new dead souls at your hands”

“In other words, for years of your past, you have always been an avatar of death”

The old man took a deep drag of his cigar, then breathed out: “I can see that you are a natural-born Hitman, a devil born for the sake of killing, all of your skills were derived to erase your enemies”

Gu Qing Shan looked at the old man in surprise.

Just a few of my casual strikes allowed him to see that much.

“Old man, if you praise me like that, the others of the Guild would definitely not agree, they’ll try to challenge me” Gu Qing Shan complained.

“Are you scared?” the old man asked.

“I am” Gu Qing Shan replied.

The old man was unconvinced, asking: “Are you scared of losing to them? Or dying at their hands?”

“No, I’m scared of the trouble” Gu Qing Shan honestly replied.

The old man laughed out loud.

“You are a Fear Fiend, one whose strength has surpassed other normal Fear Fiends, perhaps even the majority of evil creatures”

“Since that is the case, I shall grant you a new codename, the Fear Fiend King”

“I hope you won’t disappoint this codename”

As Gu Qing Shan was about to reply, lines of glowing text slowly appeared on the War God UI:

[The one who granted your codename is the Hitman Emperor of the void]

[His verbal recognition carries certain meaning to the living beings of the void and the infinite worlds; your codename has gradually been recognized by the worlds far and wide]

[Due to this, your codename: Fear Fiend King, has fulfilled the preliminary factors of becoming a Title]

[Title Quest: Fear Fiend King, will soon begin]